weaning, whining and winning

For the past 19 months, the little one has directly breastfed with occassional tasting of formula -- 4 times to be exact. I had my share of excruciating nursing pain but endured them all so as to give the best milk there is in the entire world.

Since the parents can no longer wait for the 'Baby-led weaning' to commence, we firmly decided to start the process whether the little one likes it or not. Daddy spent the entire 2 day weekend with our growing toddler.He had to take care of all baby's needs -- diaper change, bathing, putting to sleep and feeding. I had to stay far away so that the little one couldn't smell her favorite booby milk. The first 5 hours was fine as the daddy was able to distract the tot with games, toys and french fries -- her favorite snack. But just before nap time, the baby wants mama's milk. It was 3 hours of crying and whinning and refusing to drink the formula. Boy, it breaks my heart having to hear the little one scream. 'Mama! mama!'. Daddy was wise to negotiate with the baby, 'Finish the milk then we will go to mommy.' The little one seemed to understand and drank a few ounces then fell asleep -- too tired after the crying marathon.

We, I believe,  had successfully weaned the tot of direct breastfeeding during the day for the past 5 days. (The 3rd day onwards was only with me and it was much easier -- less whining  Perhaps the 2 day routine with daddy was enough to make new habits.) We/ I still directly breastfeed her at night. It is the baby's reward for giving in to all the parent's orders. However, the baby still refuses to drink milk from the bottle.  She would rather drink just plain water if it's not milk directly from mommy.
I worry though about the daily nutrients she needs with this kind of set-up. The baby can last the entire day with more or less just a cup of rice with meat or veggies and no milk supplement. She doesnt eat that much solids and is kinda a picky eater.  Though I can see that her mood, still happy and naughty, didn't change. Regular poop and wet nappies are the same as before too.  So maybe we are doing just fine.

We, the parents, got to have a lot of patience (for the whining), determination (for not giving in to the cries), creativity (for distracting and putting the tot's mind away from the boobie milk) and a lot of french fries (for the hunger pangs) so that we'll be able to survive and win this weaning process.

Parents win... this time!
Wait til it's time for potty training. -Natnat